Ficorpio
Chapter 1
I saw the message on my husband Ethan Sterling’s phone: he’d booked a ten-day luxury getaway to Europe over the holiday.
I smiled. Ethan had always loved planning elaborate surprises.
But the holiday arrived, and the surprise never did. Instead, he told me he had to leave on a business trip.
Then I saw a post from his secretary, Claire Hayes.
Beneath the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, lovers kiss. You kissed my lips and claimed my heart.
The photo showed Claire and Ethan locked in a passionate kiss.
I saved it and dropped it into the Sterling family group chat with a message.
Congratulations. It looks like you’ll be getting a new daughter-in-law.
The group chat exploded. Sterling relatives surfaced one after another.
My mother-in-law, Eleanor, replied first. “Chloe, could this be a misunderstanding?”
One of Ethan’s cousins wrote, “No one knows how to have fun like Ethan.”
An aunt immediately tagged him. “You’re too young to be talking about things you don’t understand.”
Ethan’s sister asked, “Why does that woman look so familiar?”
Another cousin answered, “Isn’t she Ethan’s secretary? Claire Hayes?”
The chat fell silent.
A few minutes later, Ethan finally posted a message.
“Claire lost a game of truth or dare and had to share a kissing photo. I’m her boss, and I didn’t want to embarrass her, so I helped her out. There’s nothing more to it. Everyone can move on.”
My phone rang almost immediately.
“Chloe, would you stop acting like a child?” Ethan demanded. “How could you post a picture like that in the family chat? You know how large the Sterling family is, and my grandparents are extremely traditional. Delete it now.”
My voice remained calm. “Why? Is the photo something people aren’t supposed to see? I thought it was beautifully taken. The caption suited it too.”
Impatience crept into his tone. “I told you, she lost a game of truth or dare. Why are you picking a fight with a young woman over something so trivial?”
I sat up straighter. “She kissed my husband. Of course I’m going to care. Whatever game she lost, you never would have indulged her if the idea hadn’t appealed to you. Ethan Sterling, I’m asking you not to make a mistake you’ll regret.”
His voice softened. “All right. I’ll be more careful next time. I’ll bring you a present when I get back from my business trip.”
I glanced at the date. “How many more days will you be away?”
He told me when he would return.
The dates matched the ten-day European getaway exactly.
Ethan Sterling had betrayed our marriage after all.
Chapter 2
A few days later, I went to meet him at the airport. It wasn’t because I couldn’t bear to be apart from him. The Sterling family had a gathering that evening, and husband and wife were expected to arrive together.
Ethan emerged pushing a cart piled with luggage. Claire followed close behind him, delicate and dependent, as if she belonged at his side.
The moment she saw me, she shrank back a step.
“Mrs. Sterling.”
Ethan slipped an arm around me and kissed my cheek. “Thanks for coming, sweetheart.”
The scent of another woman’s perfume lingered on his breath. Perhaps he’d just finished kissing someone.
I turned my face away and spotted a faint lipstick mark on the collar of his shirt. I said nothing.
Ethan looked perfectly at ease. “Let’s drop Claire off first, then we’ll go home together.”
As he spoke, he opened the front passenger door for her and explained that she suffered from motion sickness.
Claire glanced at me from beside the open door, her expression cautious. “Mr. Sterling, maybe I should just get a cab.”
Ethan took my hand and answered in a tone that allowed no argument. “It’s dangerous for a young woman to travel alone at night. Besides, she’s on our way.”
On our way?
Her place was more than ten miles out of our way, but if Ethan said it was convenient, then apparently it was.
Claire settled into the front passenger seat while I sat in the back. Our eyes met in the rearview mirror. The look between us was sharp and silent, charged with mutual understanding and everything one woman could recognize in another.
I lowered my gaze and asked softly, “Were the two of you the only ones on this business trip?”
“No,” Ethan said casually. “The other employees took a different flight.”
Before Claire got out of the car, she handed me a box and tilted her head with an innocent smile.
“Mrs. Sterling, this is for you. Mr. Sterling told me you like shawls, so I hope you like it. I just wasn’t sure whether the color would suit you.”
Ethan chuckled. “Chloe is a little older. She doesn’t care for playful colors the way younger women like you do. This should be perfect for her.”
My throat tightened.
I let out a quiet sigh.
The moment the car door closed, I straightened and shifted away from Ethan.
He frowned. “What’s wrong?”
I handed him a compact mirror and let him see for himself. He quickly spotted the lipstick mark on his collar. His brows drew together, but he offered an explanation.
“Claire lost her balance when we got off the plane. I caught her. It must have happened then.”
I drew a deep breath and turned to look at him, my expression caught somewhere between hurt and something even I couldn’t name.
“Ethan, we’ve been married for seven years. There never used to be secretaries who lost their balance and smeared lipstick on you. When did your female employees start accidentally leaving perfume on your clothes and lipstick on your collar?”
Chapter 3
He was silent for a moment before saying apologetically, “All right. I’ll be more careful from now on.”
The frustration lodged in my chest with nowhere to go. Our marriage might have begun as a strategic alliance between two families, but we’d dated for two years before the wedding. It wasn’t as if there had never been love between us.
Now, after seven years of marriage, I felt as though we’d finally reached the end.
Before we got out of the car to join the rest of the Sterling family, Ethan grabbed my arm. His expression turned stern.
“You’re angry? Why? Because I didn’t spend the holiday with you and went on a business trip with my secretary?”
His voice hardened. “When did you become so unreasonable? You’re acting like a spoiled little girl.”
“You know Sterling Holdings is at a critical point in its restructuring. I don’t have time to guess what you’re thinking. I spent ten days flying around overseas for work. I’m exhausted.”
“You need to behave like a proper Mrs. Sterling, not parade your emotions across your face.”
All at once, I lost the patience to keep playing along with this charade. I tore my arm from his grasp.
“A ten-day luxury getaway through Europe was a business trip? Ethan Sterling, am I the only fool left in the world?”
I stared straight at him. “Was the kiss beneath the Bridge of Sighs sweet? Did you enjoy having her heart in your hands?”
Then I pushed open the car door and climbed out without looking back.
“Once we’re done pretending to be the perfect couple tonight, let’s spend some time apart and think about what we want.”
By the time the family gathering ended, I was so drained I could barely stand. Pretending we were happily married was exhausting in every possible way.
When we returned home, I took a bath. I had changed into my pajamas and was smoothing lotion over my skin when Ethan slipped his arms around me from behind.
“Honey, I was wrong,” he murmured, coaxing me. “I won’t have anything more to do with her. If you don’t want her around, I’ll transfer her to a regional office. Would that make you happy?”
I pulled free of his embrace.
“Ethan Sterling, don’t touch me when you still smell like another woman’s perfume and lipstick.”
He wrapped his arms around me again before I could step away.
“I said I was sorry. Come shower with me, all right? You can scrub my skin off if that’s what it takes.”
Then he kissed me.
I was just about to slap him when his phone rang. My gaze flicked to the screen.
The caller ID read: Little Miss Forgetful.